i always wonder why i gravitate towards bad people

their hurtful words are like melodies to my ears

and my pupils dilate when i see their knuckles coming close to my face

i smile when i’m spitting blood on the cement and feeling my cheek throb

purple has always made my eyes pop

but how could i ever find my way towards something else

when this is all i’ve ever known

all i’ve ever seen in my own home

no one even thought to teach me how to say i love you

instead all i picked up was how to stab and sting with my words

how to bleed through my smiles

violence means comfort to me and pain is normality

because no one, not one person in my life, has ever mentioned that love is not supposed to hurt.

Dear Writers and Readers,

We noticed some less-than-exemplary behavior on Prose today, which forced us to take action against some users. This is a gentle reminder that, while we try to remain as uncensored as possible, some forms of content are simply intolerable. Please note the following passage from our Terms of Service, under Prohibited Content:

Content that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable, or invasive of privacy or publicity rights;

In today’s case, harassment was the keyword. We have taken steps to punish infringing users, and prevent future infringements. Note that we will not be adjudicating arguments, disagreements, or squabbles between users, unless we deem the language used to be grossly abusive or inflammatory.

1. We have added a report button to all posts. You’ll find the button in the lower-right options menu (indicated by an ellipsis icon) of every post. If you encounter a post that violates the Terms of Service, please report it.

2. We have instituted a temporary posting restriction policy against first-time offenders. If we find that you have been harassing folks, spamming, or posting any other sort of Prohibited Content, you will be prevented from posting, commenting, and sending messages for a minimum of three days. Repeat offenders will be permanently banned.

3. We have added an internal feature to remove offensive posts. Posts that violate our Terms of Service, or that provoke grossly abusive or toxic comment threads, will be marked as such and removed after 24 hours. During that period, commenting on such posts will be disabled.

Refer to Section 10 of our Terms of Service for all forms of Prohibited Content: https://theprose.com/p/legal/terms

Happy Writes,

The Prose Team

all the boys i’ve loved

have some things in common

besides brown eyes

and beautiful smiles

they say they treat them mean

to keep them keen

and i tend to lean

towards the hurt

but i won’t get on my knees

begging for forgiveness

that i don’t need

i saw her today and i felt my knees go weak. she was on a bench reading and sipping her coffee, and she smiled as she looked up at me. casually. like an acquaintance. like she wasn't my universe for two years and her pale lips weren't my escape every day and her emerald eyes weren't the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen.

i love her. so damn much.

how foolish of me to think

you would ever love me

when her and i polarize

she’s cold and distant

i just get too close

she hides everything

underneath so well

as if it’s not there at all

while i am an open fire

when it comes to feelings

she’s quiet and enigmatic

and i’ve never met anyone

more opinionated than myself

she knows how to give you

just what you want

but i don’t have a clue

how to even hold your hand

her hair is dark and shiny

and her gaze glints as cold ice

while i hide my ocean eyes

behind wild honey locks

after tears pour from them

like rivers because of

how foolish it is of me to think

i still have a chance.

Readers and writers, angels and demons, ladies and gentlemen: we’ve long kept you waiting to see what Prose has in store for you. Today, we hope to satisfy your curiosity with the introduction of Prose Gold and a host of new updates. We created Prose with lofty ambitions: to invigorate the digital landscape with a love of literature, and to revitalize an aging publishing industry. Prose Gold is our next step on that path.

What is Gold?

Prose Gold is a subscription service, which affords readers a near unlimited selection of content at a flat monthly price. We track the number of readers and time spent reading each piece, and distribute earnings to authors. Anyone can publish on Gold to earn a piece of the pie. Gold is available to the first thousand or so Prose loyalists at a never-again price of $5.99/mo.

Publishing to Gold.

We allow everyone to publish on Gold, though Gold subscribers will enjoy a few extra perks. When publishing a new piece, simply check the “Gold (Open)” or “Gold (Restricted)” option before hitting publish. Gold (Open) will leave your post open to the public. Anyone can read it, and any Gold subscriber who reads it will contribute to your monthly earnings. Gold (Restricted) will lock your post, making it available only to Gold subscribers. Anyone can publish to Prose Gold once every 30 days, though Gold subscribers are allowed as many Gold publications as they wish. Further, subscribers publishing to Gold (Open) or Standard are able to set a purchase price on their work.

Payments

We’re moving away from PayPal in favor of credit cards, processed via Stripe. We anticipate that this will lead to a much smoother experience when buying content or sending donations on Prose. Prose “Coins” have been converted into account credit, which you can use just as you would have in the past.

Partners

The “Partners” program is being discontinued for the time being. The features of the Partners program are being moved to Gold. Namely, the option to set a flat price on your post or book and the option to suggest pieces for the spotlight.

Under the Hood

We’ve rebuilt the website from the ground up, to offer a much snappier experience on Prose, and to make way for some of the cool things we have in store.

Portals

We’ll soon be offering Gold subscribers the option to create and curate their own portals. We want to offer expanded flexibility and customization of portals, allowing folks to read, write, and share in their own personalized corner of Prose.

The Bookstore

The Prose Bookstore has a long way to go. We’re working on a number of updates and improvements. Stay tuned.

Prose for iOS

We’ve been so busy on the new website, that we’ve let the iOS app lag behind a bit. We’re working on offline reading functionality, progress tracking, and a number of improvements to the user interface. There’s a big update soon to come.

This is a small taste of all we have in store for you with Prose. Until next time, happy scribbling.

You can check out Gold or subscribe here: https://theprose.com/p/gold